Black Rose Light Love
by risingfallback
Summary: Nekozawa knows about Haruhi and has fallen for her. He leaves her black roses in the dark, while he slowly gains her trust and friendship. Is it possible that she can love him too or wil she forever remain ignorant of his feelings of love?
1. Chapter 1

* * *

Chapter 1

"A black rose?"

Haruhi bent over, and picked the thorn less rose up to her face, examining it. She had never seen a real black rose before, and found the unusual color invigorating.

"What's it doing on my desk?" she asked herself, brushing some of the loose petals that had fallen aside and into a nearby wastebasket. She set her bag on the floor of the class and sat down, twirling the flower between her fingers, deep in thought.

"Haruhi!" twin voices called out, and the brown haired girl felt two arms envelope her into a tight hug. "What's that?" they asked simultaneously, Hikaru reaching out and plucking it lightly from her fingers.

"A black rose huh?" Kaoru asked. "Someone give it to you, or did you just pick it up on the way to school?"

Haruhi batted their hands away. "It was on my desk," she said truthfully as the rest of the class sauntered in, loudly talking about their vacations to far off countries.

"Must be someone's idea of a sick joke," Kaoru said dismissively, handing it back to Haruhi, who tucked it in her bag safely. It was simple. She adored simpleness in her often complex and annoying life. The two behind her didn't help anything either.

At the end of class, she looped her bag around her shoulder and exited quickly. The twins were all set to wrap their arms around her and start in about how she had managed to ditch them again during the short holiday, but a familiar dark essence caught their attention instead. Identical faint smirks lit their faces.

"Nekozawa-senpai, what are you doing down here huh?" Hikaru asked, invading the black hooded teen's space by throwing his arm around the other boy's neck casually.

Haruhi stopped in her pursuit to get away from the twins and turned back. "How have you been, senpai?" she asked politely, watching the twin's carefully. She just knew that they were up to one of their little devil acts again.

Nekozawa, who was violently trying to fight off Hikaru, stopped, his cat puppet hanging limply in his hand. A blush settled along the teen's face, though only Hikaru, who was face to face with him could see it. "Oh…um fine? And you?" he asked, shaking his hood off to reveal his bright blue eyes and his black wig.

Haruhi darted a quick glance to Kaoru who looked like he was up to something again. Though the both weren't as immature as they had originally been, they couldn't help picking on poor Nekozawa. Haruhi had to admit-the light hating older boy made himself an easy target, practically painting the red bull's-eye on his back.

"I'm fine," she said calmly.

"Now!" Hikaru called out. A beam of bright light came from Kaoru's direction, and Nekozawa squealed, blocking his face with his hands as he crumpled to the ground.

Haruhi's large brown eyes narrowed closer, making her resemble a pissed off Kyoyo, a sight not many would ever be able to face. The color drained from their faces.

"Leave. Him. Alone," she stated clearly and precisely, anger lacing it. If they thought that time with Tamaki messing up everything was bad, this was ten times worse.

"G-got it," they stuttered, backing up as fast as they could. The late bell rang, but Haruhi ignored it and instead focused her attention on the heavily panting Nekozawa.

"Are you okay, senpai?" she asked, extending her hand to him. Gratefully, he took it, and she helped hoist him back to his feet. He was a little shaky but he didn't seem to be too hurt.

"I'm okay," he answered, rubbing his temples with his free hand. He glanced at her. "You didn't have to help me, you know," he said, another blush flaring on his face. "Most people would have just left me there."

"It's nothing," she assured him. "If you really are alright, we should head to class."

As soon as she turned to leave, he grabbed her arm, his skin rubbing intimately against hers. "Wait…"

"Yes?"

Gulping, he searched for the right words. "Are you busy this weekend?" he blurted, his grip becoming weaker the more he trembled.

Haruhi blinked at him. "I have my house chores and studying, but beyond that, I should be free. Why?"

Scrambling for a solid idea of what to do, he grasped onto one thing, "Kirimi's birthday is this weekend and she would like to see you."

Haruhi really wanted to get to class, but she forced herself to nod. "I'll see about it," she said, not wanting to give up her weekend to visit the kid who had dubbed her as the 'nerd'.

"Please think about it," Nekozawa begged. He let go of her, and stumbled back. "It would make her really happy and…" he slyly grinned underneath his hood, "There will of course be many servings of all of your favorite foods."

Haruhi felt the drool gather in her mouth and had to wipe her face before any of it leaked out. "I think I might be able to come," she said, defeated.

"Good." He dug around in his side bag and extracted a small pad of white lined paper and a blue pen. Handing it to her he said, "Here write down your address. I'll come and pick you up on Saturday at twelve. Is that alright?"

Haruhi nodded, images of food still playing in her head. She handed the pad back to Nekozawa. "I think we really should be going now," she said, glancing around the empty corridor.

"Oh. You're right." Reluctantly, Nekozawa started trotting off in the direction of his math class, while Haruhi walked calmly to her English class.

In his hand, Bereznoff chuckled evilly, a plan already unfolding in their conjoined minds. _Your secret is safe with me for now, Haruhi-chan, _Nekozawa thought, slipping into his class silently. _But only because I don't want others to fall for you the same way I have. _

* * *

AN/ I do not own Ouran or it's characters. If I did, I would have Nekozawa's weird little self all to myself.

This is my first Ouran-and non Naruto-fanfic and I'm wondering how I did. I think they are OOC but I'll leave that up to you dear readers.

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Nekozawa shifted on the bed, clearing his throat. It was raw from the strain of reading for three straight hours, and he could feel the soreness that he was certain to come back the next day. But he kept reading on, mimicking girls' and boys' voices as best he could, for the sole entertainment of his younger sister.

Kirimi was tucked securely in between his legs, the shoujo manga directly in front of her jubilant face. Her over sized kitty toy was in her sheltered arms, smiling off to the side. She laughed when he took on a macho voice and she settled closer to his chest, smiling brilliantly at the pictures. It was enough for him to give up his black magic time, the most sacred of his moments, second only to this.

He paused and she looked up at him curiously. He cleared his throat again and smiled down at her, tousling her small pigtails. "Just need to give this voice a break and some water." Lifting her up by the armpits, he settled her down in the cream colored comforter, kissing her head and tucking her in. "I'll finish the story tomorrow, alright?"

"Sure, big brother." She leaned up, gently pressing her small lips to her brother's forehead. "Night."

"Night."

Shutting the door, Nekozawa walked silently back to his room. Spending time with his sister was a dream come true for him, but he had his limits when it came to her shoujo fetish. He could read for only so long before his throat would start to swell. He was surprised that he hadn't lost his voice entirely yet.

The flickering light of the candles was the perfect setting as he stopped in front of his princely portrait. It was the only one of him with Bereznoff alone. He had been forced to forgo the wig and cloak, but all in all it wasn't that awful. It was his first connection with Kirimi so it had been worth all the torture he had been forced through.

"So bored," he muttered, covering a loud yawn with his hand. He wandered aimlessly around his mansion, hands clasped behind his back, and blue eyes roving the walls. His concentration was shot. Images of a certain brunette invaded his mind, like it had been for weeks, and he felt his body stop while his mind went on ahead, a slide show roving through his very brain.

Haruhi. She was an enigma to him, and he had found himself oddly attracted to her since he had first stumbled upon the fact that she was really a girl in disguise.

The host club hadn't been too secretive at his mansion, where she had been dolled up in a flowery dress the likes of which had never been erased from his mind. Even though he had caught only a small glimpse of her in Mori's protective arms, he was sure of it; Haruhi was indeed a full fledged female.

Nekozawa shook his head, blond hair hitting his face gently. At home, he rarely wore his wig as the staff already knew about his real looks. Their reactions weren't satisfactory enough to him for the extra bother.

"I wonder what Haruhi thinks of me?" he said to himself thoughtfully. "No, don't go there."

He could plainly see the longing and loving glances that the host members threw at her, though Haruhi herself was too blind to it. If she couldn't read her own friend's feelings, how could she ever know of Nekozawa's feelings? He was only her odd senpai, the one that couldn't tolerate any light and whose sister refereed to her as a nerd. Yeah, he was a real contender for her heart.

He reached his room in aggravated silence, slamming the heavy black door behind him. His candles were nearly out, the flames dying slowly. He replaced them with his new blood red ones that he had specially ordered. He sat on the edge of his bed, sighing pathetically.

"Of all the people I could have a crush on, it had to be the one that the host would never let go of. The one that I can never touch without dying a slow and painful death by flashlight." He pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest just like his sister. From the corner of his cluttered desk he could hear Bereznoff curse him, calling him a bunch of awful names that made Nekozawa flinch. The cat puppet was his best friend but he could be harsh when he found it appropriate.

Lying back, Nekozawa settled on the top layer. He ran his fingers through his hair teasing the knots out of the shiny locks. Kirimi was napping for now, so he figured he had a good two hours before she awoke and started pestering him nonstop to read to her again. Grinning wildly, he dug though the clutter that carpeted his floor and extracted his cloak and wig, settling them both on him and heading through the door. There was something he had to get for tomorrow...

Haruhi calmly sipped on a glass of tap water, her eyes glued to the intricate pattern of words that caught her up in it's web and wouldn't let her go. She had settled herself down after she finished her chores for the day and had decided on reading for awhile. She hadn't accounted for the fact that the book had her itching for more, so much so that she couldn't take her eyes from it.

Her dad had left a note on the kitchen counter stating that he would be unable to attend dinner because of his job. She had shrugged carelessly. It was becoming habit for him to take on odd hours lately, leaving her home alone most of the time.

She reached the last page and finished happily, feeling content and pleased with the ending. Closing the book, she stretched and yawned, rubbing her eyes. Reading always made her sleepy.

She was dressed up in long boy shorts and a black tee shirt. She knew that her friends in the host club would be horrified but they were comfy and she would fight tooth and nail for her right to comfyness dammit!

One look at the clock had her annoyed. Nekozawa would be picking her up for the party in just under a half an hour and she wasn't ready.

_I guess these will have to do, _she sighed, looking down at her state of dress. She slipped on a pair of her sneakers and quickly tied them, before finishing up getting ready. One more glance at the clock revealed that Nekozawa was running late.

Haruhi slung a red bag over her shoulder and locked the apartment, making sure that she left precise instructions on what her father needed to do when he got back. More often than not, he would fall asleep immediately, or glomp her till she made him see reason.

She had been so caught up in her own thoughts and plans that she hadn't even noticed the limo roll up in front of her house. The crowd outside sighed blissfully, awaiting the one that would surely come out and fetch the princess Haruhi.

They certainly got a shock when it wasn't a gorgeous member of the Host club and was instead an ordinary looking boy, albeit strange one. As per usual, he was dressed in his cloak and wig, his puppet never too far from its master. Haruhi had to fight the urge to sigh again. He was a strange senpai, but she couldn't find too much that she could do for him. Instead, she marched down the stairs, bag swinging. "Hello senpai," she said politely.

Nekozawa grinned at her from behind his hood. "How are you today, Haruhi-kun?"

The driver held the door wide for them both to slip in when Haruhi answered. "Fine." The feel of cool leather against the backs f her legs made her shiver in both outrage and slight disgust. _Rich bastard. Creepy leathery feel. _

Bereznoff chuckled though only Nekozawa could hear. He coughed. "Sorry to pressure you into coming," he apologized, bowing to her somewhat awkwardly since his head almost reached the ceiling. "But I really appreciate you coming to Kirimi's birthday party. I'm sure she will be very happy indeed." He grinned at her again, but this time she could fully take in the sight.

Haruhi felt the car start up and pull away. She quickly buckled in, and turned back, tilting her head inquisitively to the side. "It's not a problem, really. I already finished my daily chores anyway." Her eyes flickered to the car window. "How far is your house?"

"Not far from here actually," he replied, setting his head onto his hand and leaning towards her face. His own was sprinkled with a light blush. "Are you dying to get away from me or to gorge yourself with food?"

"I would like to sample your food, if you don't mind," she answered. "But if I really didn't want to be here, I wouldn't. Unlike the Host members, who want to dominate my time, you don't seem to really want to do that. Am I right?"

Nekozawa chuckled. "You are a smart little kohai, aren't you?" He purposely evaded her question, preferring to keep her in the dark for just a tad longer. His plan was still rolling and he wanted to keep it that way.

_Oh will she be surprised, _his puppet thought.

Haruhi went back to staring out the window, and Nekozawa took to staring at her longingly. He really wanted to saunter over and throw his arm around her thin shoulder's like the other guys did, but he didn't dare. She had just said that she wasn't like them and he didn't want to prove her totally wrong within just moments. That would come later at the party.

The car lurched to a stop and Haruhi noticed the overly large stone castle splayed out in front of her.

"We're here," he said, and with a knowing grin, held the door open wide and let her slip under his arms. "Oh, boy are we here."

* * *

AN/ so yeah, took me a while to update. Sorry about that. Before I was being lazy and such and now I'm just wicked tired. Damn daylight savings and school. I should be working on my Algebra and Intel Science homework but updates are personally more important to me. Besides, we just started a new trimester. Can't do that bad yet.

Alright, so please review, because I don't know whether the characters are IC are not. So yeah, please do!

Random question...Are any of you out there fangirls of Nekozawa? Just wondering...


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

§§§

"So this is your real house?" Haruhi asked, shielding her face from the blazing sun. She almost envied Nekozawa, safely draped in his cloak. Then she rethought it and shook her head. 

"Yes," he muttered. "Come on, Kirimi must be wondering where we are."

Haruhi withheld a snort of contempt. "Of course." 

Nekozawa awkwardly grinned and giggled. "This way, Haruhi-kun." Bowing low, he let her pass in front of him and then he trotted after her. 

The house resembled a medieval castle. It was made of grey stone and stood high above even the tallest of the trees. There was even a tower with the notches where soldiers could fire down on others. 

The door was large and rounded and Haruhi almost felt like a moat should have led to it. Nekozawa didn't bother with the lion shaped knocker and instead just pushed the door open. "You first," he said, eyebrows rising. 

She walked past him without a word. 

_Adorable and the brightest mind in her year...but she is still clueless when it comes to matters of the heart. _

"I have something for you," Nekozawa grabbed for her hand, and blushed. It was soft. "Y-you might get lost," he stuttered, feeling his ego deflate. She was looking straight at him with those large brown eyes of hers and it was like he was a deer stuck in the headlights; he couldn't move, he couldn't do anything but keep on staring.

"Senpai?" She tugged her hand free from his and he looked dejectedly back down at his own empty one. "You didn't have to get me anything. It's not my birthday."

Nekozawa just chuckled awkwardly. "Don't worry about it. It's something you will need to enter the party." He scratched the back of his head. "Now, let's get on with it, shall we?"

She nodded. 

Nekozawa padded ahead of her, every now and again checking over his shoulder to make sure she was still behind him. Haruhi often strayed from others, he had come to learn. He wouldn't let her, like those incompetent host club members. 

The hallway thinned out and a spiral staircase descending upwards into the dark appeared. A candle hanging on a detachable bracket was the only source of light in the darkness. Nekozawa picked it up and motioned for the girl to follow him. 

"Why is it so far up?" 

"This is my own personal quarters," he explained. "The thing for you is just around the next corner."

Another arched door loomed ahead and Haruhi was glad. The climb up was steep and breathtaking-literally. 

Holding the door open for her, Haruhi slipped in and the puppet boy followed her silently. 

"Ah, what a pretty room," Haruhi muttered, her fingers reaching out to rest lightly on a standing mirror. It looked to be centuries old with clawed feet holding it upright and a gold ring around it. 

Nekozawa beamed at her compliment. "It was my mom's when she was a kid," he said, fishing around in a silver chest on the floor. He extracted something that Haruhi couldn't see and he turned around. His hood had already fallen off to reveal his wig, but it was the carefree smile stretched along his face that startled Haruhi. She didn't often see him so happy. "And so was this."

He thrust a see through cloth wrapper at her and she carefully picked it up. "May I...?" He nodded so she sat down on the oriental rug cross legged. So as not to damage the material underneath, she unzipped the zipper and extracted the dress, holding it with one hand on the collar and another at the hem. 

It was an older style, a medieval one judging from the soft green velvet under her fingertips. It was long but a gold rope belt kept it from looking frumpy. The sleeves were split partway down, making a wonderful effect with the overall style. The collar was also gold in color and so was the matching headpiece, a simple velvet covered band. Thin tendrils of veil like material come off the headpiece at what Haruhi assumed was the back. 

"What do you think of it?" Nekozawa asked anxiously. He had had the dress adjusted a bit to fit her smaller stature and to better suit her color tone. 

"It is pretty...but why would you give it to me?" She looked up at him, truly puzzled. As far as she knew Nekozawa hadn't found out that she was in fact a girl. 

"It's for the party," he said, a bit too fast for her taste. "Kirimi has requested that all of her guests dress up like a character of a shoujo manga. Or as close to it as you could get. And since I figured you wouldn't have anything laying around that would even remotely be like that I figured you could have this..." he trailed off, not sure how to tell her, "...since you are a girl after all."

Haruhi blinked at him. Just blinked. Only once. "Oh so you did see me in that dress after all," she said calmly, standing up. "I thought maybe you had forgotten or just hadn't seen me."

Nekozawa felt an incredible urge to smack himself in the head. All of that worry about telling her he knew and she just blew it off like it was nothing! Then again...he smirked to himself, as she examined the dress further. 

_She's not like the other girls...and that is part of her appeal. _

"So...can I change into this?" Haruhi asked, waving her hand in front of Nekozawa's dazed face. He snapped out of it. "Uh...sure, here I'll wait outside the door." 

As soon as the door clicked close she started changing. 

"It really is pretty after all. Doesn't suit me, but I guess since Nekozawa-senpai went through the trouble to get it for me I could wear it."

§§§

The party was mostly other toddlers dressed up in high end costumes. The parents had left the safety of the kids in the hands of the maid and butler, and were in another room entirely sipping on champagne and chatting about the good old days. 

"Where is big brother?" Kirimi asked somewhat anxiously. He had left her an hour ago, and she hadn't seen him since. 

"Don't worry. He will be coming down momentarily." 

Kirimi shifted her wig so that the longer blonde strands would stay out of her eyes. She had chosen not to come as a character out of a shoujo manga, but as her fake brother. Tamaki would surely be crying tears of joy had he seen her.

"See there he is," the maid pointed out helpfully. The doors to the dance hall were thrown open and Kirimi could see the familiar dark hair of her brother's wig...and another blob on his right. "I see...so he brought Haruhi-kun along for the party. Oh my..." the women said, catching sight of Haruhi. 

Haruhi looked even cuter in her dress then anything the Host club had ever pushed on her. It reached down to her feet, where Nekozawa had supplied her with black slippers that were just a tad too large. The veil trailed down her back, reaching to her waist where the belt hung loosely. If her hair had been just as long as it had been before she had cut it, she would have perfectly resembled a fairy tale princess. 

Nekozawa was lightly laughing, holding his chest slightly as it rose and fell. Haruhi looked puzzled, seeing him like that. Kirimi smiled. Her brother had finally arrived and had even brought a special guest for her to play with!

Kirimi cut through the bubbling crowd, most of which were playing little kid games. With a bright smile on her content face, she leaped for Nekozawa and he caught her, almost falling over at the surprise. "Big brother you came!"

"Of course I came," he said, patting her wig. She didn't notice his slight hesitance. "Happy birthday Kirimi-chan."

"Happy birthday," Haruhi echoed. She couldn't stop her eye from twitching at Kirimi's choice of costume. 

_If only Tamaki-senpai were here, _she thought shaking her head.

"Hello Nerd," Kirimi pointed out, and Haruhi's eye twitch became faster. "You make a pretty maiden for a nerd." 

"Right. Thanks," Haruhi said shortly. 

Kirimi turned her little back to Haruhi. "Are you going to change too, Big Brother?" Her rosy lips jutting out just so. 

Nekozawa ruffled the hair of her wig. "For you, of course." He set her down on the ground. 

Haruhi watched as he slowly undid his cloak and unwound it from around his shoulders. It pooled around his feet, while he removed his dark wig, revealing his own blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. He wore dark jeans but his shirt was light blue, a present from the staff. Bereznoff was still on his hand, but the look completed it; he looked every part of the good looking prince, while Haruhi was his opposite. 

Kirimi's eyes teared up, and she clapped her hands happily. "Oh, let's go play some games!" She grabbed each of their individual hands, and dragged them along behind her. 

§§§

AN/ Another update so soon. I'm surprised. Oh well. 

I hope you like the design of the dress. I have a somewhat similar dress in my closet from Halloween. 

And the last scene with Nekozawa changing from vampire worshiper to fairy tale prince is for all of you Neko fans out there. 

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Haruhi let Kirimi pull her along reluctantly. She told herself that it was because she didn't want to upset the young girl, but she knew it was more for Nekozawa. He was practically beaming, his grin open and honest. She didn't see him act so care free often, so she pushed aside all disgusted thoughts and focused on Nekozawa.

"Come on, let's play out scenes in shoujo manga!" Kirimi excitedly chirped. Haruhi paled dramatically.

Nekozawa butted in. "How about a simple game of hide and go seek instead?" he suggested.

Kirimi frowned in thought while Haruhi shouted _Please pick that instead! _in her mind.

"Okay," Kirimi complied. She clapped her hands together, and then addressed the rest of the party. "Come on, let's play a game of hide and go seek!"

The rest of the children clapped along, happy with the change of scene. Mingling could be entertaining for only so long.

"Who's it?" a boy asked, adjusting his red and black tie.

Haruhi slumped forward when she heard Kirimi say, "Nissan and the nerd are it!"

_I was hoping to get some food while everyone else was hiding, _she thought. She shrugged apathetically. "Fine."

Next to her, Haruhi could tell Nekozawa was perking up. He was smiling and with his hands on his hips, he gladly announced, "You have ten minutes to hide. Don't get in my room, you little buggers." The children laughed at his mock-serious voice and he grinned at Haruhi while they scampered off. "I'm assuming you would like to catch some food before we start chasing after the little rug rats?"

Haruhi could have kissed him she was so ecstatic. "If you wouldn't mind," she said graciously. Her stomach growled like a bear and she blushed lightly.

"Not at all." He offered her his arm and she took it courteously.

Haruhi felt herself drool when she walked up to the table laden with food. She wiped the small trickle of spit away and Nekozawa's arm dropped back to his own side.

She picked up a chocolate cupcake. It had red frosting and there were cut up strawberries on top. She took a bite out of it and groaned in pleasure. The cupcake was deliciously sweet and she took her time chewing. She took another bite and then realized that Nekozawa was staring at her. The faint spark in his eyes was unreadable.

"Oh." She finished off her suguray treat and then reached over the table and plucked a similiar cupcake, this time with blueberries on the top. "Would you like some food too?" she asked, eyes shining.

Nekozawa sighed. "Sure." He took the treat from her hand, his fingers brushing along hers. She fixed her dress while he consumed the treat hungrily, his demeanor changing slightly. His eyes were shinier and brighter, his shoulders slumped forward.

"Are you sure that hide and seek is a good idea?" Haruhi finally asked, licking frosting off of her dainty fingers.

"Why do you ask?" Nekozawa polished off a glass of apple juice and wiped his chin.

"Your house is fairly large. It could take hours to find all of the," Haruhi said, voice robotic.

Nekozawa smirked. "That's alright. More time with you."

Haruhi blinked.

Nekozawa raked his fingers through his hair, his face red as a fire engine. He suddenly reached past her and stuffed a muffin in his mouth, chewing rapidly. Haruhi watched in morbid fascination as he struggled to chew the large portion. He managed, and swallowed, gasping for breath.

"Let's-go-find-the-kids," Nekozawa panted. He grabbed her hand and tugged her behind him.

_That was interesting._

-x-x-x-x-

Nekozawa could feel Haruhi's large brown eyes on the back of his head. His face was flushed, and his breathing was erratic. Calming himself down, his face paled to its normal white shade and his hand stopped shaking. "Let's check the kitchens first," he told her over his shoulder. "Whenever I wanted to play hide and seek, that's where I went."

Haruhi dropped his hand again. It felt cold. She walked faster to match his longer stride and said, "You really played hide and seek, Nekozawa-senpai?"

He nodded. "When my cousins would come it was all we ever played."

They came to large doors, with black rounded handles. Nekozawa easily grasped the metal and pulled, allowing Haruhi to pass first.

Nekozawa found Haruhi's widening face amusing. She was staring at the rows of chefs preparing desserts. He shrugged at her. "Come on. I think I can see the corner of someone's shiny little crown," Nekozawa whispered.

A faint giggle alerted the pair to the hiders. Smilng, Nekozawa pounced.

"AH!" the girls wailed.

"AH!" Nekozawa screamed, covering his ears with his hands. Haruhi followed suit.

The girls started giggling some more after they got over the shock. "Ah, we lose," the smaller girl said, adjusting her crown. "What do we do now?"

Nekozawa pointed to the door. "You can go back to the hall and get some desserts if you would like. Or you can help us find some of the kids."

The girls' faces perked up. "Let's find the other kids," the curly haired one said. She was dressed like a high school girl, complete with the short skirt and blazer.

"Alright. Just follow us."

The girls trotted faithfully after Haruhi and Nekozawa. "Are you two dating?" asked the smaller one.

Nekozawa chocked on air. "W-why would you say that?!" he stuttered loudly. Haruhi thumped him on the back non too gently.

The girls shrugged. "A prince and a princess usually end up together in shoujo manga," they replied easily.

_Note to self: burn all shoujo manga. Replace with shonen manga and all will be right with the world. _

"Just because something happens in shoujo manga, doesn't mean it will happen in everyday life." Ah, it was Haruhi's blunt logic. The youngest's face started to scrunch up and Nekozawa knew from experience that she would start bawling if he didn't do something.

Backpedaling, Nekozawa butted in. "But you never know, it could happen." He patted the girl's head, taking care to avoid her crown.

The older girl wrapped her arms around the other girl protectively. "I think we should go back and wait with the maids," shes said coldly, her glare cutting over to Haruhi, who was staring at the master chef.

"Oh..um, if that is what you want," Nekozawa said, watching Haruhi out of the corner of his eyes. She was focused on the sushi that the chef was preparing for dinner later.

The girls left and Nekozawa let out a large sigh. He liked kids, they were cute, but he couldn't handle too many emotional problems at one time.

"You're really good with kids," Haruhi said calmly.

"Um...thanks," he said, feeling his insides twist. She turned back to face him, her face lit with a small smile.

"You should smile more often," she commented. "You look more approachable and fun to be around."

Nekozawa felt like he was floating. "Thanks," he finally managed to stutter out, tugging on his costume.

Haruhi shrugged. "Come on, let's go find the other kids."

Nekozawa followed her out.

-x-x-x

In the end, Kirmi won the game. Since she knew more of the nooks and crannies of the house, she was given a major advantage. She had hid out in the attic, in a corner, behind a large trunk under some blankets (with a flashlight and her oversized kitty plushie).

After opening gifts and having dinner the small guests decided to call it quits and go home. Haruhi couldn't have agreed more. Even though she was used to the hyperactive ways of the Host Club she was exhausted. Nekozawa's home was even larger than she had first estimated.

In the car, Haruhi shifted, her hand coming up to cup her chin. She felt Nekozawa staring at her from next to her. Turning she sleepily asked, "Yes?"  
A soft blush crept up Nekozawa's pale face. "Did...did you have fun?" he asked timidly.

Haruhi smiled. "I did," she said truthfully. "You know, I haven't ever seen you so happy before."

Nekozawa shrugged off her comment and stared out the window. The rest of the ride went by in comfortable silence until they reached Haruhi's home.

"You don't have to walk me to the door," Haruhi said, already outside of the car.

Nekozawa grinned. "You're right. I don't have to walk you to the door."

Haruhi nodded. "Then I will see you later senp-"

Nekozawa got out of the car and ruffled Haruhi's hair lovingly. "However, I never said that I didn't **want **to walk you to your door."

Haruhi pouted, but she admitted that he was correct. She lead him up the stairs to her apartment, while he curiously looked around. The neighbor, watering a plant hanging next to her doorway, waved to him and he waved back with a small shy smile.

Haruhi unlocked the door and stood in the doorway. "I guess I will be seeing you around senpai."

Nekozawa started fidgeting. Haruhi raised an eyebrow at him. "Is there something you would like to say?"

He nodded. "I-I like..."

Haruhi waited for him but the end of the sentence never came. Instead, Nekozawa waved at her, and then quickly bounded down the stairs and into his car.

_That was weird. _

-x-x-x-

AN/ It's been a long time since I updated huh? Oh well.

Not much of the host club crew but yeah.

Taiki: Kita-chan has been awfully lazy lately.

Kita: glares Maybe if a certain muse would stay put instead of running away I would be able to do more work...

Taiki: ...

Kita: Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story. Please read and review!


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